Medical Arts Building to Host Downtown Public Open House
The Medical Arts Building at 236 Central Avenue is set to host a Downtown Public Open House Wednesday July 1st from 8:00am-8:00pm.
This meeting is part of the four month long planning process for the redevelopment of downtown.
Earlier this year, the Hot Springs Metro Partnership and West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District were awarded a federal grant from the Economic Development Administration to contract with a consulting firm to help coordinate the downtown planning effort.
The selected firm, Thomas P. Miller and Associates, held a public kickoff event on April 9th, and have since been meeting with downtown focus groups, studying downtown, and reviewing previous work. This upcoming open house is the culmination of their work thus far.
“We will have some preliminary ideas and mock-ups displayed that might make it into the final downtown redevelopment plan with your vote, “said Cole McCaskill, Downtown Development Director for the HSMP.
“We want everyone to come and help decide which ideas should be included in the new strategy for downtown. To accommodate as many people as possible, we’ve scheduled this open house during a 12 hour period. Anyone is welcome to drop by between 8:00am and 8:00pm.”
McCaskill continued, “We’re nearing the end of Phase 2 of the 3 Phase planning process.”
“Phase 2 included a review of all past downtown plans and documents; research on trends in entrepreneurship, tourism, the arts, and entertainment; a demographic and socio-economic analysis; a SWOT assessment; and evaluations of real estate, land use, and policies.”
“In Phase 3, we’ll use the community input from Phase 2 to formulate goals and strategies for the plan, ask the community to review those items again, and then draft the final plan. This process should be finished in August.”
McCaskill added, “We’d like to thank the TKZ Group for the use of their recently acquired storefront in the Medical Arts Building for this public open house.”